General de Monsabert, the forgotten figure of the Liberation
The fifth episode in our "Esprit 44" series, in partnership with the Charles-de-Gaulle Foundation: overshadowed by the likes of Leclerc, De Lattre and Juin, Joseph de Monsabert was nevertheless one of the most eminent leaders of the battles that led to victory in 1945.
Athéna's August reading list
This summer, we're turning our strategic intelligence into reading advice! Pictorial representations of the First World War, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, French leaders' fascination with Russia, Marshal Saxe... Here are Athéna's literary recommendations for August. Read with your feet in the water!
The Olympic Games, a mirror of geopolitics
Since their origins, the Olympic Games have reflected the upheavals of their times: invented in ancient times as a truce between warring Greek cities, they are now sometimes used to denounce the policies of other states, or even the internal laws of the athletes' own nations.
The sinews of war: Free France at the Bretton Woods Conference
The fourth episode in our "Esprit 44" series, in partnership with the Charles-de-Gaulle Foundation, looks at the question of how to finance the return of French sovereignty and reconstruction in an initially poor Free France. The key issue was the conference organised in July 1944 in the United States.
Marshal Foch, apostle of "unity of effort
After this exceptional parade on 14 July on the Parisian avenue that bears his name, we take a look back at the figure of the Generalissimo of the Great War, who was able to unite the armies of eight countries until victory in 1918.
De Gaulle and the United States: trust built on a balance of power
Third episode in our "Esprit 44" series in partnership with the Charles-de-Gaulle Foundation. Here's how General de Gaulle, initially mistrusted by American officials, obtained their recognition of Free France in two years, in addition to information about the future atomic bomb.
Athéna's readings for July
This summer, we're turning our strategic intelligence into reading advice! The war on sport, France's role on the international stage, the Russian-Ukrainian war, the Indopacific... Here are Athena's literary recommendations for July. Read with your feet in the water!
A time for battles: fighting on all fronts
This is the second episode in our "Esprit 44" series in partnership with the Charles-de-Gaulle Foundation. This time we explore the involvement of Free French troops in various theatres of operation. This was a crucial stage in the legitimisation of Free France in the eyes of the French and the Allies.
France's "still special" position in NATO
Isabelle Corbier, President of the Studies & Perspectives Committee of the Association des cadres et auditeurs de l'Institut des hautes études de défense nationale (AA-IHEDN), followed the strategic debate on 10 June 2024 on "France and NATO since 1989".
Denuclearisation of Ukraine in the 1990s: "A crisis that went completely unnoticed".
Hugues Pernet, the first diplomat to represent France in Ukraine at the time of the collapse of the USSR, looks back at the delicate negotiations conducted to prevent the new state, which was home to thousands of Soviet weapons, from becoming a nuclear power. Interview.
